The present invention relates to agricultural fertilizer applicators. Particularly, it relates to an apparatus for application of livestock waste in the form of slurry (that is, a freely flowing mixture of liquids and solids). Historically, livestock waste, particularly in solid form, has been spread on the surface of the soil by a manure spreader using a flail to fling the material to the rear. A more modern side-discharge spreader also deposits the material on the surface of the soil.
The advent of confinement systems for animals which include pits below the confinement area produces a large amount of animal waste in a slurry form. This slurry must be handled and disposed of in an environmentally acceptable manner.
Typically, the slurry is pumped into a large tank carried by a wagon or mounted on a truck. In the past the slurry was then spread or sprayed on the surface of the soil. This procedure has, as a principle objection, a strong odor which remains after the waste is spread. Moreover, surface spreading of animal waste is not desirable with the potential runoff of nitrates and phosphorus into rivers and streams. This is objectionable because livestock waste is high in nitrogen, and swine waste is also high in phosphorus. With increasing concern with the quality of the environment, this prior art procedure is becoming less and less acceptable.
Various methods have been proposed for depositing the slurry underground. One method uses a fertilizer knife, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,592,294. The slurry is delivered behind the knife. This leaves a very narrow band of fertilizer having a high concentration of nitrogen and other nutrients.
Another method of subsoil delivery of animal waste employs a standard chisel plow shank with an attached wide cultivator sweep, in an attempt to distribute the slurry further laterally and to avoid the concentration which occurs in the prior art methods and devices.
This method, however, does not fully overcome the concentration problem, and it presents still another problem—namely, the trailing slurry hose can damage crops such as corn and soybeans. The damage caused by the trailing hose, dispensed from the reel carrier, especially when a turn is made in the field can damage row crops such corn and soy beans.
A company by the name of Veenhuis B. V. of Raalte, The Netherlands makes and distributes a full line of slurry dispensing systems. Veenhuis also has a slurry reel system. It utilizes a trailing hose slurry injector. An advantage to a trailing hose injector is its ability to smoothly apply slurry in or onto the soil. It also provides for less damage to the soil. The slurry is supplied through the hose, rather than dragged along with a tank across the land.
This new method of slurry delivery has many advantages. One important advantage is that it has less impact on the sward. The sward is a portion of the ground covered with grass or other vegetation. A slurry reel system has other advantages including use of the maximum load of the carrier truck (maximum capacity) and minimum pulling power. This is because the hose is not pulled across the land, but alternatively reeled and unreeled. As such, this method requires less pulling power and the large capacity of the reel system allows for working lengths of 700 meters or more, preferably 1000 meters or more. The Veenhuis slurry reel system does not suggest nor disclose how to improve on the reel system by moving the axis of the reel to parallel with the direction of travel and a hose handler that reduces forces on the hose and lessens damage to row crops that are in the field.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,907,925 to Guyot discloses a method for treatment of waste material which comprises supplying waste material in slurry form to a dispensing machine. The disclosed dispensing machine includes a frame with ground wheels for moving across the field. The frame carries a reel on which is wound a pipe or hose for transporting the waste material from the supply tank. This reference does not suggest nor disclose that the axis of the reel is parallel with the direction of travel of the frame, nor does the reference disclose or suggest the presence of a hose dispensing/retrieval boom that is attached to the frame and is perpendicular to the axis of the hose reel.